by JL Weil
Milk sloshed over her spoon. “I’ve seen hotter.”
“Oh, yeah.” That was a challenge I couldn’t refuse. My fingers skimmed the edge of my shirt. I pushed up the black cotton material inch by slow inch, baring my midriff in my best stripper pose.
Her husky laugh was loud and full. “No you didn’t.” She snorted indelicately, milk threatening to spill out her nostrils. “That was priceless. Good God, stop before I choke to death.”
Seeing her huge smile only made me want to go further. I blinked in front of her, pressing intimately against her body, just to see her cheeks flush. It backfired. Her laughter intensified, and I was disappointed in more than one way.
“Don’t. You. Dare,” she warned between fits of giggles. Her hands waved in front of her like she was having a seizure.
Not exactly going as planned. “How’s your head? It looks like there might be a knot forming.”
“I’m fine.” She stuffed a spoonful of cereal. “It will heal.”
Indubitably. It was another perk of being bound to me. She healed at alarming speeds, same as I did. Rummaging the cupboards, I searched for something to eat other than cereal. I heard her fidget behind me and finally caught on that she had something to tell me. “Spill it,” I said, facing her. I rubbed the pad of my thumb against her waist.
She swallowed. “Guess who showed up while you were snoring logs this morning?” A sneaky smirk played on her lips.
Strutting to the coffeepot, I poured myself a cup, noticing the mug had some gamer mumble-jumble written on it. “Do tell.”
Crunch. Crunch. “Emma,” she said with a mouthful of cereal.
She was shitting me, right?
My hand was paused midair, clutching the handle. Behind me, I heard a snarky voice that made me cringe.
“Heya.” In walked my redheaded nightmare.
I guess that meant Angel wasn’t kidding. A guy could hope. It wasn’t like I didn’t know that Emma would be here. I had just hoped it would have been later—much later. The little hunter was bad news.
My fingers dug into the mug. I didn’t even bother to hide my frown. “Joy,” I mumbled.
Angel elbowed me in the side.
“What did you eat for breakfast? Bitch Flakes?” Emma said drolly.
The hunter and I had a bad rap sheet. She had once been assigned to kill me. She failed, as many are prone to do when taking on such a daunting task. I’m no easy target. Angel, as usual, got caught in the crossfire between my battle with the hunters, and I had to make an executive decision. So…I killed Emma’s father. He was basically the CEO for the hunters.
The only reason Emma and I could be in the same room without bloodshed was because my girlfriend had compelled her to forget that I murdered her father. How was that for a twist?
Angel had the ability to compel those I couldn’t, like other Divisa, demons, and hunters. The hunters took a synthetic serum that rendered my compulsion useless. Angel was the antidote. There was no one she couldn’t bend to her will if she was so inclined. It was a heady power, and the thing was, she hated using it.
“I’m about to—” I started to say, before I was rudely cut off.
Angel kicked me in the shin and covered my gripe by clearing her throat. “So, Emma, do you like your room?”
Angel and Lexi were bunking together. I had my own room, being the only guy. And the final bedroom was given to Emma. I refused to let either of the two people I cared about sleep in the same room with her. I also reinforced the lock on their bedroom door yesterday when we got here. You never know when the hunter might lose her mind and go completely mental.
Emma’s watchful emerald eyes were honed in on me as if she knew what I’d been thinking. “Compared to some of the places I’ve stayed, this is like the Hilton.”
Awkward.
None of us really knew, except maybe Travis, the torment Emma had endured at the hands of her own father. He had kidnapped her for God’s sake. That was extreme, even for my standards. What kind of nightmares she’d suffered while held captive by her asshole father was anyone’s guess, but I had a good imagination. Appallingly, it made me have just the teeniest empathy for Emma.
I still didn’t trust her.
Taking a sip of my black coffee, I pretended that I had no idea what she was talking about as Angel struggled for a response. How did you follow a comment like that? We all had parental issues, but none of us wanted to talk about it. What a house of misfits.
Angel pleaded with me with her eyes, looking to me to ease the mounting discomfort. I leaned back, crossing my ankles, and cradled my cup. She had opened this can of worms. It’s all you, babe.
She narrowed her eyes in a sarcastic thanks-for-nothing glare.
Lexi breezed into the kitchen, grabbing a banana. “What did I miss?”
My cousin always had such impeccable timing. Thank goodness. The uncomfortable level was at epic proportions.
“Nothing. Just the two love birds attempting to christen the kitchen counters,” Emma said dryly.
Angel’s pretty little mouth dropped.
My cousin made a scrunchy face. “Ew. TMI. I swear the two of them are like rabbits,” she said to Emma as if Angel and I were invisible.
“Hello,” Angel called. “We’re still here. And nothing happened.”
Emma opened her mouth to bless us with another condescending comeback, except her expression contorted in pain and she grimaced, her hand flying to her temple.
“Hey. You okay?” Angel asked, concern lacing her words.
Emma kept her head hung, rubbing the side of her head with one hand and the other braced on the counter for support. “Yeah. It’s just a headache. I’ve been getting them a lot lately. Stupid allergies.”
Allergies my ass.
The hunter and I were going to have words, and until then, I was keeping a close eye on her, like stank on skunk.
Angel and I shared a look. Shit was going to get real. I could tell by the worry that crossed her face, she was thinking about doing something utterly stupid. She bit the inside of her cheek, and I knew I was going to have to save her from herself.
There were consequences for scrambling people’s memories. The more you meddled in someone’s mind, the greater the irreparable damage. If we weren’t careful, we could end up screwing Emma far more than she already was. And Emma’s mental state was questionable as is. Dig too deep and you might set off a machine with a no kill switch. That was a chance I wasn’t willing to take.
For Angel as well as Travis.
If I could help it, I would do everything in my power to make sure that Travis didn’t suffer the anguish of losing the girl he loved a third time. I felt a sense of obligation to Travis and Emma’s tumultuous relationship. Travis and I were just at a place were things felt normal again. How could I jeopardize that? I had promised him that I would look out for her. Why did I always have to make the hard decisions? Angel and Travis might not like it, but even at the expense of her returned memories, not compelling her would be the right thing to do.
I would hurdle that boulder when it came.
Northern Illinois University—home of the huskies. The mascot looked like a cute version of a hellhound. I didn’t know if I should take that as a bad sign. Our high school mascot had been a devil. Seriously, could I not get away from the Hell references? Or maybe it was my mind turning everything into something related to Hell.
After two minutes of standing in a line that was going absolutely nowhere, I came to one conclusion.
Orientation blows.
“Why am I here?” I asked, quashing my umpteenth yawn. Crowds of students gathered outside, around the white square tables set up in the courtyard with poster boards advertising college groups, events, and class schedule information. Not that I gave a hoot.
“To pick out classes and plan your major,” Angel stated obviously.
Right. “Easy.” I smirked. “I’ve got that covered.”
She looked unconvinced. “H
ow exactly?”
“I’ll take whatever you take.”
“Chase.” She drew out my name exaggeratedly. “No more shadow. You need to figure out what you want to do with your life.”
I take it this wasn’t the time to tell her that right now, I wanted to do her. She was wearing these skimpy frayed jean shorts and a white crop top that showed off her tan belly. Her scent teased my senses.
Drool.
I bestowed her with a charming smile. “The only thing I want out of life is you.”
Try as she might, she was amused. “You’re so lame. How did I ever fall for you?”
“If we ever make it through this never-ending line, I’ll show you.”
My tacky moment was ruined by none other than Emma and her extra-large mouth. “You guys make me sick.” She proceeded to make awful gagging noises.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Aw, Deen. Someone need a hug?”
“Touch me, and I’ll embed my knife so far up your—”
Unable to help myself, my lips twitched. “I think I got the point, G.I. Jane.”
Emma’s poisonous green eyes narrowed. “My middle finger salutes you.”
I laughed out loud. And to think, this was only the first day. Never a dull moment and I was glad, because without a little bit of excitement, I would be bored to death.
Just as we started to finally make some progress and I could actually see the person behind the table, Angel stiffened. Her back was to me, but I could feel the tension that lined her body. I placed a gentle hand on her waist, and whispered in her ear, “What is it?” I should have known that trouble found her at every turn. It stuck to her like superglue.
New school.
New friends.
New set of danger.
Slanting her head to the side, she had that glint of distress. Something ominous was looming in her midnight eyes.
“Angel,” I snarled when she didn’t answer me. Instinct warned me that this was going to get ugly. And then there was my demon. He perked up, responding to the change in Angel.
Without a word, she took off, leaving Lexi, Emma, and me gaping after her. “Shit,” I swore under my breath.
Here comes the ugly.
“Now what?” Lexi said in exasperation, throwing her arms in the air.
My sentiments exactly.
Orientation was going to have to wait as I set off after Angel with Lexi and Emma in tow. I stifled the urge to run to her side and instead, stayed back, letting her lead the way. Tingles spread over my demon mark, burning. Instinctually, I wanted to sweep her away, because I knew what followed these kinds of tingles—demonic, no doubt.
I bit my tongue to keep from calling her name, not that it would have made a difference. She was in the zone. There was something wrong about the look I’d seen in her eyes, and since this wasn’t the first time, I figured it was best to see where this took us.
Maybe then I could get answers.
Angel went around the main office toward the park. As the sight of the dark green foliage of pines, evergreens, and maple trees, a sinking feeling in my gut plunged. I didn’t have to be a brainiac to figure out nothing good ever waited for you in the woods.
Down a flight of stone steps, Angel strode across the courtyard with purpose. Her dark, glossy hair blew faintly in the wind. She was a woman on a mission, and it disturbed me. In her own little world, she was drawn by something or someone.
“Your girlfriend is more fun than you,” Emma said. Her reddish-gold hair was tied carelessly back into a low ponytail. No fuss. Emma wasn’t one of those girls who obsessed with her looks. Nope. She was obsessed with knives and crossbows.
“More trouble you mean,” I grumbled.
Emma gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Trouble. Fun. What’s the difference?”
I couldn’t argue with her there.
Under a covering of trees, the four of us came upon a wooden bench. Nothing could have grabbed my attention more than seeing a demon eating his version of a Big Mac. Some helpless girl had become his afternoon snack. And if that wasn’t enough to jolt my body into action, the hellhound guarding him snapped its sizable jaws.
“OhGodno,” Lexi moaned.
Chapter 10
Craptastic.
I cracked my neck. “Just freaking dandy. Is there no place Hell hasn’t decided to make their personal playground?” At least my awesomeness wouldn’t get rusty.
Emma reached behind her white tank and pulled out a knife. The silver blade gleamed in the sun. And Angel, well, she was the only one of us who didn’t have some kind of response. She stood eyeballing the demon and his pet in a way that made me antsy. There was no fear as there had once been. The sight of a hellhound used to send her jumping into my arms. I kind of missed that. Now…I only felt intrigue radiating from her.
My reaction, however, hadn’t changed.
I lunged.
Fighting was second nature to me. Thinking was unnecessary. I just reacted, flashing in front of the life-sucker and ripping him off his enthralled victim. The spurred demon hissed at me right before my hand balled, slamming into his gut. A loud cracking of bones thundered, and the demon’s human skin began to slip.
Take that asshole.
Gone was the façade of a preppy, pretty boy, and in its place was a fugly demon with slithering black lips, jagged razor choppers, and the worst case of BO. Dude was seriously an eyesore.
The girl, seeing the boy she thought had been nuzzling her neck in a heavy make-out session was really a grotesque lower-demon, screamed and took off running. D-bag licked his lips, wanting to give chase. The grip I had on the scruff of his neck tightened. “Lexi,” I said, nodding toward the hysterical girl.
“I’m on it,” she replied, and then in a poof of flying blonde hair and black high heels, she disappeared after the girl. Seconds later her cries were quieted.
But the complications didn’t stop there. I had momentarily forgotten about the hellhound until it growled, deep, wet, and throaty. The dog-like creature charged. I rocked on the back of my heels, preparing for its attack while I still tried to keep the upper hand on the demon.
Son of a bitc—
I blinked, and that was all it took for Emma’s ruby blade to make an arch, slicing the beast’s scrawny throat. The thing erupted into dusty ash, littering the lush green grass.
Christ. What a team we are.
“You can thank me later, half-breed,” Emma sneered.
I didn’t have time to throw barbs with her. The demon wiggled in my grasp, seeing the unfortunate fate of his pet. With ninja reflexes, I knocked him to the ground in one sweeping lethal kick. When dealing with the underworld, you couldn’t waste a precious second. I zapped to the bastard, leaning over him and grinding my knee into his chest. “Listen, douchebag. I don’t have time to babysit you. Just tell me why you’re here?” I demanded, curbing the rampant desire to smash my fist into his pasty face.
“I don’t have to tell you ssshit,” the demon spat, a rotten curve to his lips.
Wrong answer. I was used to being obeyed, no matter what the species. Wiping the demon spit from my face, I cocked my head. “Is that so? Well, slick, I think it might be your lucky day. I am betting that you do talk to my girlfriend. She has the magic touch.” No matter how much my mind balked at the idea, it didn’t make it any less true.
The demon’s black pits shifted restlessly. They darted from Angel to me and back to Angel.
Gotcha.
Angel stepped beside me, finally snapping back to Earth. “Who sent you?” she asked, eyes glowing.
I did a double-take.
Her eyes usually changed with her moods, but this time, I got a hunch that they were fueled not by me, not by our bond, and not by her feelings, but by the demon crunched under my foot. She distracted me. There was something about the way her eyes changed colors that I found hot. Really hot, which probably made me warped.
But distractions could be deadly.
Like flipping a sw
itch, the lower-demon slipped back into his illusion of a human. His hand shot forward, striking me in the jaw. It wasn’t the first time I’d been decked in the mouth, and most definitely wouldn’t be the last, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like a bitch. A demon’s punch was like getting socked with a flaming bowling ball. The heat alone was unbearable.
My head lashed to the side, and I felt the metallic taste of blood on my tongue.
Awesome. First blood.
I jerked out of the way just before he was able to get off round two on my other cheek. Bastard was going to pay. No one hit me and lived to tell about it—dead or alive. But first, I was going to have to save my neck. Literally. The demon made a beeline with his spiky jaw for the big artery at my throat.
“Don’t. Think about it,” Angel seethed, fixing the scumbag with a glare that made him squirm.
A transparent, smoky smile appeared on the demon’s face as he wavered in and out of form. “I wasss only going to take a tassste.”
On me? Not likely.
Reversing our positions, I put the slimeball into a headlock, making sure he didn’t try to slip away. “Now answer the question before you go up in dust.”
He was suddenly a little more forthcoming. Surprise. Surprise. “I was ordered to defend the keystone,” he said in a cool voice, neither friendly nor unfriendly.
“Shit,” I mumbled. Since when did Hell go on foot patrol? And defend her from what? The only thing hostile here was him.
Angel and I shared a look. We needed more answers. “Ordered by whom?” I demanded, squeezing his throat, for fun mostly.
The demon made a wet gasp, his canines dripping with sticky goo. “Alassstair,” he hissed.
Disgusting.
To say I wasn’t shocked was an understatement. Leave it to my demon sperm bank to find a way to meddle with our lives, even from another dimension.
During my interrogation with shitface, I had lost touch with Angel’s emotions, my mind solely concentrated on the demon.
Emma’s grating voice brought my focus back on Angel. “Hey, demon-mutt, there’s something wrong with your mutated girlfriend.”
